Arrival

When the caravan finally left the dangerous stretch of road, thankfully without any major incident, they quickly set up camp. Everyone was tired from the long walk, so after a quick meal, most went directly to bed.

Sana was no exception, so she lay down in the tent with her mother. But before she could go to sleep, she had to ask her mother, "Mother?" She continued after her mother's affirmation. "Have you ever seen a demonic beast? Immortal Imalia said that they are stronger than any spirit beast."

After a few moments, her mother said, "Yes, I have met two demonic beasts before." Sana sat up at once and looked at her mother in excitement. Aria tilted her head in her direction and smiled teasingly. "I've even fought one before."

Before Sana could ask further, her mother chuckled and, staring at the ceiling of the tent, corrected herself. "Well, maybe fighting is too big a word. I was simply supporting the other demonic beast with my father and others. You had to be at the Martial King level at the minimum to participate in that fight. And even then, dozens of them died," she ended with a sigh.

"How was it? How strong is a demonic beast?" Sana exclaimed. Her mother shook her head, "I was younger then, not as strong as I am now, so I could hardly scratch it. But the most difficult thing was its pure vitality. I've seen it get chunks ripped out of its body, and seconds later, it had already healed. Even its heart was pierced once, but it simply shook that off as well. Only when the Lord of Blackspire Mountain managed to crush its head completely did it stay down."

"Now, we need rest. So lay back down and try to sleep." With that said, her mother closed her eyes. Sana tried to calm herself and eventually fell asleep as well, dreaming of fighting an unkillable beast.

After a full ten hours of resting the group continued on the last four 'days' of their journey. The trees were getting bigger the further they walked, their bark darker and their treetops higher.

This last stretch was peaceful, without incident, and on the last 'day', they separated from the river. The river entered Blackwood City further to the east and left it to the north, separating the city into a western and eastern side. Closer to the city, the gaps between the trees were getting large enough for even their caravan to pass through. The road stopped being cleared of trees and instead started winding around them.

A short while after a yell from the caravan leader, Sana could see a large black wall stretch across her view, segmented by tree trunks that looked like parts of the wall itself. The road led right through a gate installed between two trees relatively close to each other. The gate was open, and five guards were stationed there. Seeing as they were wearing leather armor, they were at least Martial Squires.

The caravan leader was already standing beside one of the guards, their leader, apparently. The caravan itself was simply waved through, though her mother and she were given weird looks. The leader of the guard, on the other hand, was looking at her mother with a pinched expression as if he was rather she wouldn't be allowed inside.

The road behind the gate was fenced in, so as to not allow anyone to step into the forest beyond. Blackwood City used the forest as both pastures for animals specialized in living in the forest as well as forestry. They did have space cleared near the river to use as farming lands, but a lot of the food eaten in the city consisted of fruits, from orchards, and meat, hunted inside a specially enclosed part of the forest and outside the walls.

They needed about half the time to get to the inner gate than in Tekiel City. The inner gate was open, and they were simply led through. But when one of the guards saw her mother, his eyes widened in surprise, and he called over another guard. He said something to him, and the other guards sprinted into the city.

Her mother ignored the actions of the guards completely. Of course they had to inform the leaders of the city of a Martial King entering. The caravan discussed the further proceedings with the city guards and was led to a building to rest in the city.

Her mother held Sana back after a discussion with the caravan leader, and they excused themselves. They returned to the gate and waited. A few minutes later, the guard that ran into the city returned with two more guards in finely cut leather armor, a sign that both were most likely Martial Knights.

The two Knights approached Aria and bowed their heads before one of them said, "Welcome Lady Aria," she turned to Sana, "And this is Lady Sana presumably, welcome to Blackwood City. City Lord Hitam has invited you both to stay in the City Lord's manor. Lord Radus has been especially delighted at your visit, Lady Aria."

Her mother's face briefly grimaced at the mention of Lord Radus, but she quickly composed herself, "We are honored at the invitation and gladly accept." With that said, they started for the city center, flanked by the two guards.

As they walked through the city she saw many people watch them with curious faces, wondering who was worth being escorted by two Martial Knights.

The city itself looked strange from Sana's perspective. Huge trees were all around them and in their shadow were built wooden houses with visible stone foundations. The streets weren't straight but instead winded left and right, putting as much distance between itself and the tree trunks as possible.

Tower-like buildings were built around the trees and houses were attached to those. Most of those houses connected with each other via other houses built between them but some left spaces between them as streets leading to an almost labyrinthine construction.

The manor they were led to was built around a particularly huge tree, standing apart from the others by quite a distance. It was surrounded by a wall but the gate was already open and an elderly woman was standing just outside it surrounded by half a dozen people. The City Lord and other city officials.

Sana and her mother arrived in front of the people, and her mother bowed her head, "City Lord Hitam, thank you for your invitation." Sana quickly copied her mother. City Lord Hitam's expression reminded her of her uncle.

"Lady Aria, Lady Sana. Of course, I had to invite you to stay with us for the duration of your visit." She gestured through the gate, "Please come in; my son is already inside." Sana thought she saw a small smirk on City Lord Hitam's face, but when she looked, she just saw the usual cold face.

The City Lord entered the manor, followed by the officials, and her mother followed after seeming to hesitate a second longer. Sana entered the manor, wondering about this Lord Radus her mother didn't seem to like.